EastEnders star suspended over sex scandal

BBC bosses have suspended EastEnders star Robert Kazinsky following yet another sex scandal to hit the soap.

Kazinsky, 23, who shot to fame as the show's womaniser Sean Slater, has been temporarily axed for bombarding a model with obscene text messages and photos.

The incident echoes the controversy that saw Leslie Grantham written out of the BBC1 soap.

Grantham had made his comeback as Dirty Den when it emerged that he took part in webcam sex sessions from his dressing room in Elstree Studios.

To prevent disruption to the soap's forthcoming storylines, newcomer Kazinsky will continue filming until February, when he will be out of the show for two months.

The actor, an unknown before joining EastEnders, is said to be upset and apologetic over the incident and has said he is sorry for bringing the show into disrepute.

An EastEnders spokesman said: "Following the story in the Sunday People on January 7 2007, EastEnders executive producer Diederick Santer has taken the decision to suspend Robert Kazinsky from early February for a period of two months.

"In addition, Robert Kazinsky would like to apologise for any offence caused to EastEnders' viewers and for bringing the show into disrepute."

Kazinsky is said to have texted a model an obscene photo of his penis after meeting her online.

He is also reported to have sent her an image of a pig with a penis for a head.

The model, Aimi Robinson, 28, told the Sunday People newspaper: "Maybe Dirty Den has been giving him tips.

"I can't watch EastEnders now. Every time I see him on screen I think of that horrible picture. It makes my skin crawl.

"Rob and the likes of Leslie Grantham think that because they are famous they can do what they like - but they end up hurting other people's feelings."

The mother-of-one said: "I realise he's a young boy and perhaps his hormones are raging. But you would have thought his bosses would have given him some advice."

The pair met on the MySpace website, where Kazinsky is said to have told Robinson he needed to trust her before letting her into "my sordid MySpace world".

In one text, he is said to have written: "Might let you give me a **** one day" and later "Might film you giving me **** one day."

Kazinsky, from Brighton, first appeared in the flagship BBC soap in August last year.

His character got romantically involved with Ruby Allen, played by Louisa Lytton.

But viewers saw him dump Ruby after she became his fiancee by hurling the ashes of her father in her face.

Kazinsky, who now lives in Hampstead, north London, recently said he was relishing his new identity as a pin-up after landing the role on the soap.

He said: "I find it very flattering, but when I was younger I was the ginger, pale one that got bullied, that didn't have a girlfriend until he was 21 - and I'm only 22 now.

"Being a 'hunk' is going to do great things for my love life and I'll get a lot more offers. But I'll certainly never see myself as one."

The actor grew up in the village of Cuckfield, West Sussex, with his mother Phyllis and father Paul before the family moved to Hove.

He was expelled from college and later found work as a bouncer.

After going to drama school, Kazinsky, who once dated former Big Brother contestant Michelle Bass, appeared in an episode of The Basil Brush Show and in Sky One's Dream Team.

Last year, fellow EastEnders star Grantham, 59, revealed that he tried to kill himself three times in the wake of the humiliating internet sex scandal.

He has blamed his actions on the boredom of life on the EastEnders set and said that he has since given up using the internet.